diff --git a/wp-admin/options.php b/wp-admin/options.php
index 5e479e45d7..9b44a7c0ab 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options.php
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ default:
 $options = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT * FROM $wpdb->options ORDER BY option_name");
 
 foreach ($options as $option) :
-	$value = wp_specialchars($option->option_value);
+	$value = wp_specialchars($option->option_value, 'single');
 	echo "
 <tr>
 	<th scope='row'><label for='$option->option_name'>$option->option_name</label></th>
diff --git a/wp-includes/functions-formatting.php b/wp-includes/functions-formatting.php
index 7480deeb68..63731a5b05 100644
--- a/wp-includes/functions-formatting.php
+++ b/wp-includes/functions-formatting.php
@@ -103,6 +103,8 @@ function wp_specialchars( $text, $quotes = 0 ) {
 	$text = str_replace('>', '&gt;', $text);
 	if ( 'double' === $quotes ) {
 		$text = str_replace('"', '&quot;', $text);
+	} elseif ( 'single' === $quotes ) {
+		$text = str_replace("'", '&#039;', $text);
 	} elseif ( $quotes ) {
 		$text = str_replace('"', '&quot;', $text);
 		$text = str_replace("'", '&#039;', $text);